Milestone Moments

 This has been a year of milestones for our grandchildren.  On Friday evening, we celebrated our second granddaughter's 16th birthday.  Earlier this month her sister turned 12, and last month their cousin, our oldest granddaughter, moved on up to 21 with all the accompanying privileges and responsibilities.  Continuing the track backward through the year, January marked 24 trips around the sun for our grandson.  Even though this may not be considered one of the pivotal years, his birthday is always a milestone for the family as he leads the way for this delightful generation, reminding us also of our own passing years.

What do we do with these milestone moments, not just birthdays?  For one thing, they invite some kind of ritual and celebration.  Pausing for intentional observance helps us to take stock of the blessing of the event and, with a birthday, the person it represents.  We dare not keep rolling along mindlessly without giving periodic and deliberate attention to the people and events that impact our lives.

Celebration inevitably brings history into play.  With our grandchildren, I recall the day of their birth:  the deep gratitude, the utter amazement, the amusing and not so amusing aspects of their entry into the world, the joyous mystery of gazing into their eyes for the first time.  Reflecting on the stepping stones of their continuing journey into life and the wonder of their discovering who they are and what they enjoy leads right into the present moment and the richness they bring to me and to our family and the world.

Looking ahead from the present calls forth hope and, honestly, a little anxiety.  Even as we believe we can trust the future to unfold in a grace-filled way, our humanity reminds us that we are not in control or in the know.  However, we can stand at the current milepost and be grateful for the travel to that point and know that what has been is preparation for what will be.

So ... as Scarlett takes on the privilege of unsupervised driving, Elsa crosses over from being a young child and Catherine into being a full-fledged adult, and Harris continues to evolve personally and professionally, I am not only hopeful but also optimistic about their readiness to move beyond the milestone and around the sun and through each day toward the next one.  The celebration of who they are continues!